Open and Distance Learning for Sustainable Development

Discussion
Research Question 1
Are the required course materials available?
From the data presented in Table 1, there were only 318 printed course materials in NOUN as at
April 30 th , 2008. Considering the total number of courses offered in the various schools; the total
number of course materials required would be about 1000. This, therefore means that there is a
short fall in the production of course materials, which implied that students might have problem
completing their programmes as and when due. This was further confirmed by the respondents’
free comments in the questionnaire.
It was discovered that the management of the university was also disturbed about the non
availability of course materials; which was expressed by the vice chancellor at the Senate, for
which the management is presently doing every thing possible to salvage the situation.
Research Question 2
Do the available course materials meet the standard specified for ODL?
In testing the standard specified for ODL, the researcher calculated the index difficulty of the
course materials using Fog Index, Flesch Reading Ease, Cloze Test and Rowntree’s Complexity
Quotient. The Fog Index and the Flesch Reading Ease help to calculate the reading age, which
will help determine the matching of the course materials with the age of learners. From the
results presented in Tables 5 and 6 above, the average reading age for the course materials
prepared for the undergraduate level is 18 and that of the post graduate 20 years. Considering the
recommended minimum school age for university education in Nigeria, which is 16 and the
practical age at which students complete the university education these days, it could be said that
the course materials fairly suit the students age. Fairly, because using the government
regulations, the minimum age for post graduate would have been 21 age attained after the
National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). That is to say that the level of difficulty in the course is
what they could cope with. Considering the suggested table presented by Flesch Formula
Readability Ease Score which states thus:
Table 7
522
RE Value Description of Style Required Reading Skill
90 – 100 Very Easy 5 th Grade
80 – 90 Easy 6 th Grade
70 – 80 Fairly Easy 7 th Grade
60 – 70 Standard 6 th – 9 th Grade
50 – 60 Fairly Difficult 10 th – 12 th Grade
30 – 50 Difficult 13 th – 16 th Grade
0 – 30 Very Difficult College Graduation
and its equivalent in Nigeria as shown below: